Now that the union realizes they screwed up on the last CBA, I can definitely see a looming strike. When does the current CBA expire? http://www.floridatoday.com/news/columnists/denton/071501denton.htm July 15, 2001 Players losing ground to owners By John Denton A FLORIDA TODAY column The NBA Players Association convened this past week in the Bahamas for what should have been the ultimate in luxurious entertainment. As if staying at a palatial resort weren't enough, there also was a golf tournament, a fashion show, a catamaran cruise and gambling in the casinos arranged for the players. As it turned out, though, the players likely wanted to stick their heads in the sand because of the way the balance of power has dramatically shifted back to the NBA owners. This summer, the bargaining that ultimately ended the 1998 lockout is finally taking effect, and the players are getting hit hard financially. The imposition of the luxury tax has severely damaged players' free-agency freedom. And this week the Players Association was informed that because their share of league revenues passed an agreed-upon threshold, every player must deposit 10 percent of his 2001-02 salary into an escrow account to be divided by the owners of the league's 29 teams. All told, that's a whopping $183 million in salaries headed the other direction. Somewhere, NBA commissioner David Stern is chuckling now at how he fleeced the players association. They refused to agree to a "hard salary cap," so Stern simply changed the name to "luxury tax," a stipulation that fines teams dollar for dollar for exceeding a certain point in payroll. Even traditional free-spenders Miami, Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers have vowed not to exceed $55 million in payroll, wiping out many prime options for today's free agents. The players thought this would be the summer the supposed "middle class" would get significant raises. After all, the salary-cap exception available to every team rose from $2.25 million to $4.5 million. The trouble is approximately 20 clubs are vowing not to use it in fear of triggering the luxury tax. Those who do use it - as in the case of Orlando's low-cost pursuit of veterans Patrick Ewing and Horace Grant - want to divide it between two players before giving it all to one. ------------------ A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.
Possibly, if we had ever had a first strike. I see the Hard Cap coming in next. Of course it would be considerably higher than the current salary cap...maybe 48-50 mil? ------------------ The title will come to ClutchCity once again. [This message has been edited by vj23k (edited July 15, 2001).]
